Amusement ride seat and safety guard

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to a safety guard which is mounted on the upper surface of the seat back and side frames on a ferris wheel seat structure to prevent the long hair of persons riding therein from becoming entangled in the adjacent moving structure.

United States Patent [191 Suttles 1 1 AMUSEMENT RIDE SEAT AND SAFETYGUARD [75] Inventor: Eldon J. Suttles, Jacksonville, I11.

[73] Assignee: Eli Bridge Company, Jacksonville,

[22] Filed: Feb. 21, 1974 121] Appl. No.: 444,279

[52] U.S. Cl 297/384, 272/38, 297/184 [51] Int. Cl. B601 21/10 [58]Field of Search 297/184, 391, 188, 396, 297/397, 399, 400, 401, 402,416,443, 444,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 748,349 12/1903 Darling297/184 862,366 8/1907 1,305,407 6/1919 1,640,038 8/1927 2,109,9723/1938 Sept. 24, 1974 7/1940 Eisen 297/384 X 2,592,879 4/1952 2,694,43711/1954 3,015,488 1/1962 3,265,438 8/1966 3,456,943 7/1969 FOREIGNPATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 631,596 11/1961 Canada 297/184 529,134 9/1921France 297/184 908,666 4/1954 Germany 297/184 1,251,922 10/1967 Germany297/184 Primary Examiner-Anton O. Oechsle Assistant Examiner-Amold W.Kramer Attorney, Agent, or Firm-William A. Snow; Charles W. Rummler [57]ABSTRACT This invention relates to a safety guard which is mounted onthe upper surface of the seat back and side frames on a ferris wheelseat structure to prevent the long hair of persons riding therein frombecoming entangled in the adjacent moving structure.

4 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures I AMUSEMENT RIDE SEAT AND SAFETY GUARDBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In amusement rides such as ferris wheels,the seats for holding passengers normally are pivoted to the ridestructures and the seats are rotated thereon as the ride operates. Theseat structure has a back and a pair of side walls which extend upwardlyfrom the seat proper to about shoulder height of a normal person, thusthe neck and head of a person sitting therein will extend above theupper edges of the back and side walls. Women and girls today wear theirhair very long and flowing. As the ride is rapidly rotating, and/or ifit is windy, their hair flies in every direction. If the hair becomesentangled in the rotating mechanism outside of the seat when the ride isin operation, serious accidents can develop and have developed on ferriswheels; hence the present invention was conceived to alleviate thisproblem.

SUMMARY OF-TI-IE INVENTION To provide a guard positioned on the upperedges of the sides and back of an amusement ride and extending upwardlytherefrom to retain the long hair and the arms of a person within theseat structure; to provide a device of this character which can readilybe secured to and removed from the seat structure by the ride operatoronly; to provide a device of this character which is lightweight and thewalls having an all over pattern of perforations to reduce windresistance.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of theinvention mounted on the ferris wheel seat;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the clamping or fastening device to theseat structure;

FIG. 4 is a rear perspective view of the female portion of the latchingmember with the male member engaged therein;

FIG. 5 is an exploded view with parts in section;

FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 are end elevations illustrating the locking of the fastrelease lock in sequence.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The guard as shown in FIG. 1comprises a side wall 10 and a back wall 12 preferably constructed ofsheet metal having an all over series of perforations 14 therein. Thelower edges 18 have lateral horizontally extending flanges 20 (see FIG.3) whereby to seat on the upper cylindrical or bulbous edges 16 of oneof the side and back walls of a seat structure.

Each seat structure 22 of an amusement ride has a pair of these guardsthereon but since each guard is a mirror image of the other, only onenumeral is applied to the identical parts. One guard is positioned onthe upper edges of the right side of the seat structure 22 and the otheron the left side, as shown in FIG. 1. The back walls 12, when inposition, cover about two-thirds of the area above the back wall.

On ferris wheel seat structures where this invention is aptly employed,the outer side of each seat side wall 24-26 is provided with a bearing30 into which a shaft is journaled whereby the seat structure 22 isrotatable thereabout. The shafts are journaled between the ferris wheelstructural elements. This is not shown in the drawings as it forms nopart of the present invention and is well known in the art.

The side walls and back walls of each of the hair guards and the seatstructure are provided with a pair of quick release mechanisms 39; seeFIGS. 2 and 3. These quick release devices are purchased on the openmarket and form no part of the present invention. Each quick releasemechanism has a portion thereof mounted to the car structure and anotherportion mounted on the hair guard. The portion or part mounted on theseat structure comprises a U-shaped bracket 28 having laterallyextending flanges 32-34 which are anchored respectively to the outerface of the side walls 24-26 and back wall 36, such as by welding,bolting, etc. There are four of these brackets 28, one on each side walland two spaced apart on the rear wall. The latching plate or bracket 38comprises a preformed member starting with a flat spring steel platehaving laterally extending lugs 40 which are welded, riveted orotherwise anchored to the rear wall 42 of the bracket 28 as at 44. Thetransversely extending end members 46-48 are bent back upwardly andinwardly toward each other as shown in FIG. 4. Semicircular openings 50,52 are formed in the free ends of members 46-48 to form an aperture.Opposed ends of free ends are tapered downwardly as at 54-56 while theother ends 50-52 terminate in a right angle as at 58-60. The plate 38has a collar 62 struck upwardly and when in position, it forms anopening aligned with the opening 64. The leg 38 is also provided with anaperture 40. The upper edge of the collar 62 is provided with a pair oftangs 66 (only one of which is visible in the drawing).

The part of the quick release mechanism mounted on the hair guard eachcomprises an L-shaped plate 70 provided with a flange 72 which is weldedor otherwise anchored to the lower part of the hair guard side and endwalls (10-12), as shown in FIG. 2, so as to extend outwardly anddownwardly of the flange 20 and outwardly of theedges 16. As is seen inFIG. 3, the length of the long leg of plate 70 extends almost to thelower end of bracket 28 when positioned thereon. This leg of plate 70 isalso provided with an aperture 74 aligned with the aperture 64 wherebyto receive the headed pin 76 (see especially FIG. 7). The shank portion78 is integrally secured to the head 80 and has an integrally formedpair of transverse cross arms 82 adjacent its free end. The length ofthe arms 82 is less than the diameter of the apertures 74-64 for readyinsertion therethrough and by pressuring the head 80 inwardly againstthe spring latch members 54-56 and turning the head 80 clockwise, thearms will move under the members 54-56 and draw the head tightly againstthe outer face of member 70.

To prevent metal-to-metal contact of the hair guards and upper edges 16of the seat structure and also to protect the finish of the seatstructure, a flexible pad 84, preferably of polyurethane, made inL-shaped form as shown in FIG. 3, is slipped over the inner face offlange 20 and the bottom side of flange 20. The pad is formed with aninturned portion 86 to hook around the inner portion of flange 20. Thelower free edge of the pad 84 abuts against the upper horizontal leg 88.Also, to protect the front end 90 of the guard and prevent excesslateral motion thereof, as well as the finish on the member 16, apreformed flexible pad 92, preferably of polyurethane, is securedadjacent the lower end of the front of the hair guard. See FIGS. 1, 2and 5. The pad is formed with a cutout 94 to seat against the member 16.

Although but one specific embodiment of this invention is herein shownand described, it will be understood that details of the constructionshown may be altered or omitted without departing from the spirit of theinvention as defined by the following claims.

I claim:

1. The combination of an amusement ride seat and safety guardcomprising:

a. an amusement ride seat having opposed side walls and a rear wall incombination with a pair of safety guards, each guard comprising,

b. a side and rear wall,

1. the side wall positioned on and extending the full length of the sidewall of the seat and extending partially forwardly thereof and curveddownwardly, the rear wall of the safety guard positioned on andextending partially across the rear wall of the seat, said guard wallsextending upwardly from the respective upper edge of said side and rearwalls of said seat,

0. and quick-fastening and release means to secure said guard to saidseat.

2. The device according to claim 1 wherein the side and rear walls ofsaid safety guard are provided with inwardly and outwardly extendingflanges on the peripheries thereof.

3. The device of claim 1 wherein the inner edge of the downwardly curvedportion of said safety guard is provided with a preformed cushioning padfor frictionally securing the same to the upper forward edge of the sidewall of the seat to prevent lateral motion of said guard with respect tosaid side wall of said seat.

4. The device of claim 3 wherein the safety guard walls are perforatedin an all over design to cut down wind resistance.

1. The combination of an amusement ride seat and safety guard comprising: a. an amusement ride seat having opposed side walls and a rear wall in combination with a pair of safety guards, each guard comprising, b. a side and rear wall,
 1. the side wall positioned on and extending the full length of the side wall of the seat and extending partially forwardly thereof and curved downwardly, the rear wall of the safety guard positioned on and extending partially across the rear wall of the seat, said guard walls extending upwardly from the respective upper edge of said side and rear walls of said seat, c. and quick-fastening and release means to secure said guard to said seat.
 2. The device according to claim 1 wherein the side and rear walls of said safety guard are provided with inwardly and outwardly extending flanges on the peripheries thereof.
 3. The device of claim 1 wherein the inner edge of the downwardly curved portion of said safety guard is provided with a preformed cushioning pad for frictionally securing the same to the upper forward edge of the side wall of the seat to prevent lateral motion of said guard with respect to said side wall of said seat.
 4. The device of claim 3 wherein the safety guard walls are perforated in an all over design to cut down wind resistance. 